The Road to Wrinkle Ranch

by Nick Russell

  Chapter 24

  "If you rule out this woman who was in Ocala with Lonnie McBride, who do we have for suspects? I'm open to suggestions," Chief Deputy Schroeder said.

  "Well, you look at who has a motive," D.W. said. "The way I see it, we got a husband and a wife who were both bein’ cheated on. We've got this Vince Agosti guy, who may or may not have gotten screwed over in a real estate deal with Lonnie McBride. I guess there’s a possibility that the woman Lonnie took to Ocala's husband found out about it and he was looking for revenge. Anybody else come to mind?"

  "We talked to the other woman that Lonnie was involved with that we know about," Maddy said. “The one that Bentley walked in and caught them in the back room of the office. Her name is Michelle Owens and she moved out of the area three or four months ago."

  “What do we know about her?"

  "Single mom, so that rules out the jealous husband aspect of it," Maddy said. "She's down in Clearwater these days and I don't think she would come back up here to get even with Lonnie for a quickie in the back room. From what we can see, the thing between them was just casual sex and ended on good terms.”

  "All right then, I guess you need to start working on Darci McBride and Sonny Rittenhouse and this Agosti fellow," D.W. said. “Anybody else come to mind?"

  "What about Bentley? We know he’s involved to some extent, and we know he’s a liar," Dick Schroeder said. “I think we need to take a long hard look at him."

  “Why would he want to kill Lonnie? Or Audrey, for that matter?"

  “Who knows? If there's something fishy about this deal Agosti was involved in, maybe he knows more than he’s telling us. Maybe he's got something that needed to be covered up and the best way to do it was to get rid of the person or persons who knew about it."

  “I guess that makes sense," Maddy said.

  “We’ve been checking to see if any of our potential suspects has a big vehicle like what we think pushed the ’Vette, but so far that’s been a bust. Anything else?”

  “Not that I can think of, Dick,” John Lee said.

  "On another matter, tell me about Bella Reed," D.W. said.

  "Bella?"

  "I didn't stutter, Deputy. She was in here a little while ago raisin’ hell. Said a lot of crazy things."

  “She's the daughter of Paw Paw's best friend from the Army, D.W. Apparently, she wants to stick her dad in a nursing home and he doesn't want any part of that. She showed up at Paw Paw and Mama Nell’s house this morning pitching a fit."

  "Accordin’ to her, you guys ran her off without even hearin’ her side of the story," the sheriff said.

  "There was nothing to hear, D.W. She was out of control, my grandparents didn't want her on the property, and we made her leave."

  "Well," D.W. said, picking up a notepad from his desk and reading from it, "she claimed her father is some kind of crook. She says he's been rippin’ people off all across the country for years."

  "I don't believe a word of that," John Lee said.

  “I ran a background check on the guy and I couldn't find anything wrong with him," D.W. said. “Why do you suppose she would say such things?"

  “I have no idea, D.W.," John Lee told him. "Billy, her dad, has been telling us for years that she's just about as stubborn as her mother was, and that their marriage didn't end well. But I've never known Billy to be involved in anything bad at all. He's a great guy. He travels in his motorhome all the time, but that doesn’t make him bad, does it?"

  "I don't suppose so,” D.W. said. "A while back, my old lady kept tellin’ me we needed to buy one of those things and travel. She was pretty dead set that it was goin’ to happen."

  "Did you give it any thought, D.W.?"

  “Naw,” the sheriff said, shaking his head. “Instead I went outside and let some fool shoot me a bunch of times."

  "That's one way of getting out of doing what she wanted you to do," Schroeder said.

  “Yep. But I’ll tell you somethin’ just between us chickens, and if you ever tell my old lady about it, I’ll swear you’re lyin.’ Lookin’ back, if I had my druthers, maybe I should’a bought that damn motorhome."

  They all laughed and D.W. said, "I just wanted to run that by you, John Lee, and let you know she was in here."

  “Do you know if she’s still in the area?"

  "I have no idea where she went from here. But I did tell her that if you trespassed her off your grandparents’ property and she went back, she was goin’ to get arrested. That didn't sit too well with her."

  "From what I've seen of Bella Reed, I think she's used to getting her way and it pisses her off when she doesn't," John Lee said.

  The sheriff belched and rubbed his ample belly.

  “You okay, D.W.?”

  “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with me that a bottle of Jim Beam and an afternoon nap won’t cure.” He belched again and excused himself, then said, “Well, get out there and solve crimes," pushing his chair back from his desk and standing up. “That sausage gravy with this mornin’s biscuits was a mite too spicy for me and I got to go down the hall and take care of some business."

  ***

  Walking down the stairs, they met Barry Portman headed up towards the administrative offices.

  "Hey, guys, what are you up to?"

  “Same thing we’ve been doing,” John Lee told him. “Trying to figure out what happened at that railroad crossing."

  “Did you find out anything from examining that car?"

  "Not a lot, Maddy. One interesting thing is that when we ran the fingerprints we found on it, and there were a bunch of them, a lot belonged to Audrey Rittenhouse. But there were three on the driver’s door handle that belonged to Lonnie McBride, according to the records that the state has for real estate agents."

  “I didn't know Florida fingerprinted real estate agents," John Lee said.

  “Neither did I," Barry told him, “but they do."

  “You said there were a lot of fingerprints. More than normal on a car?”

  “Most I’ve ever seen on one vehicle,” Barry replied. “But keep in mind, Audrey was a real estate agent. She was always hauling clients around to look at properties. So I guess it stands to reason there would be so many.”

  “But why would Lonnie McBride's fingerprints be on Audrey's car?"

  Barry shrugged his shoulders and said, "Your guess is as good as mine. Why was she in Lonnie's Corvette?"

  “I think if we can figure that out, we might have an idea of what happened," Maddy said.

  "Well, good luck with that," Barry said. "I've got to get upstairs and check in with Schroeder. We've got court in 30 minutes on that stolen motorcycle case."

  “Are you serious? Tater is trying to plead innocent? What did you clock him at, 95 miles an hour when you were chasing him?"

  "Yeah, but he swears we got the wrong guy," Barry said, then added, “and he swears that those three baggies of meth we found in his pocket didn't belong to him either. Apparently, someone put him on that motorcycle and drove it while he just hung on for dear life, and then disappeared by the time we got them stopped. And put drugs in his pocket, too!”

  Montgomery "Tater" Bosarge was a 25-year-old ne'er-do-well who had been in and out of juvenile hall and jail since before he was a teenager. He had graduated from shoplifting and skipping school to petty larceny, vandalism, auto theft, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, and a host of other charges. And every time he was caught, it was always somebody else's fault. He was as innocent as the day he was born, to hear Tater tell it.

  Maddy shook her head and said, "There's a reason they call them dumb crooks, isn't there?"

  “I think the judge is fed up with his shenanigans,” Barry said. “I have a feeling he’s going to throw the book at him this time around.”

  “Well, the good news is that even if he puts Tater away for a long spell, there’s always another fool out there trying to get himself arrested,” Maddy said. “I guess it’s job security for us, right?” />
  “You got that right!” Barry chuckled, and slapped her on the shoulder as he went up the stairs.

  "Where do we start, John Lee?”

  “I don't know. Your choice. Do you want to talk to Darci McBride or Sonny Rittenhouse first?"

  “Makes no difference to me,” Maddy said. “Let's start with Sonny, I guess."

  "You got it, John Lee said. "I hope he’s up to talking to us."

  Interviewing somebody who has lost a loved one is never an easy task, but neither of them knew that their conversation with Sonny Rittenhouse would not be pleasant. Not pleasant at all.

  Chapter 25

  Sonny and Audrey Rittenhouse lived in a sprawling brick ranch style home situated on five acres just outside of town. When they pulled in the driveway, Claudette Rittenhouse, Sonny's mother, was walking toward the house from a doublewide mobile home on the side of the property.

  "Do ya have any news?"

  "No, ma'am, not yet," John Lee said. "Is Sonny home? We need to talk to him."

  A look of concern came across the woman's face and she said, "Do you have to bother him now? He's havin’ a real hard time of this."

  "I understand that," John Lee said. "But we do need to ask him a few questions if he's up to it."

  “I really don't think…"

  Before his mother could finish the thought, the door opened and Sonny looked out at them. "How ya’ll doing?"

  "We're doing okay, Sonny. The question is, how are you holding up?"

  He shook his head and said, "I still feel like this is a nightmare I can't wake up from."

  “Do you mind if we visit with you for a little bit, Sonny?"

  "I told you he's havin’ a hard time. Is this really necessary?"

  “It’s okay, Ma. I'm fine." He opened the door wider and said, "Come on in."

  They sat down in the same living room where they had talked to Sonny before. The man looked to John Lee like he had aged a dozen years in that short time. His face was drawn, his eyes sunken, and his general demeanor was one of complete defeat.

  "Sonny, we have to ask you some questions that aren’t going to be very comfortable, I'm afraid,” John Lee said.

  "Questions? What kind of questions do you need to ask him?"

  “Mrs. Rittenhouse, how about you and me go in the other room and have a talk," Maddy suggested.

  "No! Whatever you want to talk to Sonny about, I got a right to hear it. He's my son and Audrey was my daughter-in-law." The woman wiped a tear from her eye and said, "She was just like my own daughter, for that matter."

  “It's okay, Ma," Sonny told her. “You and Maddy go in the kitchen and talk."

  His mother obviously didn't like the idea of leaving him alone and said, “I don’t know. If you're sure…"

  "I'm sure, Ma.”

  She looked at her son again and shook her head sadly, then stood up and turned to Maddy. “Let's go in here. Do you want coffee?"

  "Coffee sounds wonderful," Maddy said.

  When they were alone, John Lee said, "Sonny, I know this is going to be hard to hear, but I have to talk to you about some unpleasant things, okay?"

  "Unpleasant? What do you mean?"

  "Sonny, I have to ask you something. Do you know why Audrey was in that car with Lonnie McBride?"

  The grieving man shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know. Probably some real estate thing, I guess."

  "Some real estate thing? Do you have any idea what that thing might have been, Sonny?"

  “Not really. I didn't understand most of that stuff, John Lee. She'd start talking about percentage points and closing costs and buydowns, and all those different numbers I didn't understand at all. I drive a milk truck, what do I know about real estate?"

  "What do you know about Lonnie McBride, Sonny?”

  “Lonnie? Not a lot. I knew who he was in school, but we weren’t buddies or anything.”

  “Do you know how long Lonnie and Audrey had been friends?"

  “Friends? I don't think they were friends.”

  “But they were in the same car together, Sonny. They died together in Lonnie's Corvette."

  The man's eyes narrowed and he asked, "What are you getting at, John Lee?"

  "There's been some speculation about a relationship between your wife and Lonnie McBride, Sonny."

  "Relationship?" The man looked confused for a moment and then seemed to understand where John Lee was headed. “Just hold on a damn minute, John Lee. Are you trying to tell me that there was something going on between my wife and Lonnie McBride?"

  "We don't know anything for sure yet, Sonny. But neither Audrey's boss or Lonnie's could think of any reason why the two of them would be together in a car. They didn't work any deals together. In fact, they were competitors. We can't find any cause for them to be together that morning. Can you think of one?"

  "I don't like where this is going, John Lee. I don’t like it one bit!"

  "Sonny, I understand, and I'm not saying…"

  “I know what you’re saying. And you can just forget that bullshit right now. There's no way Audrey was doing anything behind my back with some other man!"

  "Sonny? Is everything okay?" His mother was standing in the doorway from the kitchen.

  “He's trying to say that Audrey was cheating on me with Lonnie McBride, Ma!"

  "How dare you? How dare you come to our house and say something like that about Audrey?"

  "Mrs. Rittenhouse, come back in the kitchen and talk to me," Maddy said.

  The woman shook Maddy's hand off her shoulder and said, “No! The both of you just get the hell out of here, right now! You got no right comin’ in here and sayin’ somethin’ like that about Audrey."

  "Ma'am, we're just looking at every possible scenario to explain why she and Lonnie McBride were in that car together."

  "I can think of lots of reasons. Maybe she ran out of gas and he was giving her a ride. Maybe they was looking at some property that was for sale. You have a dirty mind, John Lee Quarrels. A dirty mind!"

  “Please, ma'am, let's go back in the kitchen and let them talk.”

  "There ain't nothing to talk about," Sonny said, getting to his feet. "You can take that bullshit and stick it where the sun don't shine. I’m not going to listen to nothing like that about my Audrey. She was a good woman. A faithful woman and a good wife. Don't you ever say anything like that to me again!"

  "Sonny, we just need to…"

  “You need to get out of my house is what you need to do," the man said, his face red with anger. “You just get the hell out of here right now."

  “Please sit down, Sonny," John Lee said. "Nobody's saying anything bad about Audrey. We’re just trying to figure out why she was in a car with Lonnie McBride."

  "I don't know why she was in that car. Maybe it was like Ma said. Maybe she ran out of gas or something."

  “When we found her car, it had more than three-quarters of a tank of gas,” John Lee said.

  "Then maybe it was one of those real estate things like Ma said."

  “It may be exactly that, some kind of real estate thing. That's what we’re trying to find out."

  The man glared at him but did take his seat again. Maddy ushered his mother back into the kitchen and John Lee said, "Sonny, I mean no disrespect to Audrey's memory. I swear I don't. But every indication is that somebody pushed Lonnie’s Corvette into the side of the train. I know you've heard that already, and from the skid marks there at the crossing, it looks like a big vehicle did it. We need to find out who would do something like that."

  "Maybe it was one of those road rage things," Sonny said. "You know, like they talk about on the news all the time."

  "That's entirely possible," John Lee acknowledged. “And we're looking into that. There are so many things we need to find out about all of this, Sonny."

  "Like what?"

  "Like I said, why was Audrey in Lonnie McBride's car in the first place? How did they wind up in a situation where somebody pushed them under
that train? And who did it? Who was behind the wheel of whatever it was that pushed them? Questions like that are the things we’re trying to figure out, Sonny. I’m not trying to make Audrey look bad, or Lonnie McBride either, for that matter. But there are a lot of things that we have to figure out."

  "I can tell you right now, if you think Audrey was doing something with some other man behind my back, you're out of your mind."

  "And that might well be true," John Lee acknowledged.

  "Might well be, my ass. It's a fact! Audrey would never cheat on me. She loved me as much as I loved her."

  John Lee tried to think of a gentle way to phrase what he had to say next, but there wasn't any. "Sonny, it’s hard to say what I'm about to tell you," he said. "But according to Audrey's boss, Alice Shaw, there were problems in your marriage."

  Sonny looked at him, and it was obvious that he could not comprehend what John Lee was saying. "Problems? What kind of problems?"

  "According to Mrs. Shaw, she said that Audrey was not happy in the marriage."

  Sonny's face darkened again and he said, "That's a lie! We didn't have any problems. Audrey loved me and I loved her."

  "Sonny, every marriage has problems. Not big problems, maybe not infidelity, but every relationship has problems. My wife used to complain because of the hours I worked. Even though she was a sheriff's daughter, she couldn't understand that I didn't have a 9-to-5 job and could get called out at any hour. It drove me nuts that she always left a mess in the bathroom, with makeup and hair spray and lipstick scattered all over the counter. Problems, not big problems, but problems. Can you honestly tell me that there were no problems at all between you and Audrey?"

  Sonny thought for a minute and then shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah, I guess there was things like that. I didn't like her being on the go all the time. She’d get a call it 7 o’clock at night and have to run out to meet somebody at a house. I kept telling her she shouldn’t be doing that. She didn’t know who she was going to run into out there. Who looks at a house in the middle of the night?"